The Alexander Technique, Fibromyalgia &
CFS: Part 2; End Gaining and the Four Concepts of Good
Use

by Dr. Mark Shaw

Society has made
remarkable medical and scientific advances over the last
few hundred years, but there are still many serious
diseases that continue to baffle doctors and scientists.

Indeed, many "diseases of modern society" are
reaching epidemic proportions.

These include backache, neck and shoulder pain, arthritis
and spinal diseases, asthma and auto-immune conditions,
depression, neuroses and insomnia.

At the very apex of "diseases of modern
society", come 6 million diagnoses of Fibromyalgia
and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in the US alone.

The answer to many if not all of these diseases will
never be found in a laboratory.

Numerous drugs come and go from the market every year
dashing sufferers hopes on the rocks of corporate America

The answer of course is to be found in the very way we
live our lives, and this is why I employ the Alexander
Technique as an adjunctive strategy to my core techniques
as a key part of my Fibromyalgia and CFS recovery
strategy.

Alexander's Technique can restore free choice to peoples'
lives, free from the tensions and worries that we impose
largely upon ourselves.

Alexander describes his view of the process of decline:

"We live in supposedly the most advanced, civilized,
democratic and technological society on the planet yet
the lack of "real" happiness manifested by most
adults is due to the fact that they are experiencing a
continually degrading and dysfunctional use of their
"psycho physical" selves.

This deterioration is a manifestation of our personality
traits, flaws and temperament.

These characteristics of badly coordinated people,
struggling through life burdened with maladjustments,
combine together and generate conditions of irritation
and pressure which are self perpetuating."

In many respects the result of this decline in
"psycho physical" awareness that Alexander
noted so long ago, is what we refer to in modern society
today as "Unhappiness".

To put this in Layman's terms, as our psychological state
deteriorates our physical state begins to mirror it and
so the stage is set for an episode of Fibromyalgia and
CFS, or any another chronic condition.

How we move is a mirror of our emotional state.

If you need evidence of this phenomenon, examine the
movement of a person who is in the first throes of love
and compare it to a person on their way to work on a
Monday morning to do a job they do not like.

As we grow through childhood into adults, our natural
happy state is replaced by fear; fear of failure,
rejection, and financial fears. At first the fear is only
psychological but slowly it infiltrates into our very
muscular and skeletal makeup.

Controlled by the Autonomic Nervous System is our fear
reflex, often referred to as "fight or flight".

It is of course no coincidence that the ANS is a key
system, implicated in recent developments in Fibromyalgia
and CFS science, and the focus of a great deal of my
therapy.

The ANS had already been under so much stress that when
you were subjected to your particular "trigger
infection", this system collapsed and you became one
of the unfortunate people who go on to develop
Fibromyalgia and CFS.

In individuals who become victims of Fibromyalgia and
CFS, the fear reflex is often so strong that their
tension becomes habitual, particularly in the neck and
shoulders, and begins to stretch and pull the body into a
distorted posture which slowly becomes fixed.

If you need evidence of the power of the fear reflex do
this exercise; next time you go to work, take the busiest
most congested unpleasant route, note how you feel on
getting into the car at home, note how you feel when you
hit the congestion and note how you feel in your head,
neck and shoulders when you finally get out of the car at
the other end.

On another day take a quiet country road to work and see
how you feel when you get there, compare and contrast.

In my article on CFS, Fibromyalgia and the Stress Spiral,
I wrote about the particular characteristics of
Fibromyalgia and CFS sufferers, how they were often
ambitious, go getters, highly stressed individuals with
little time to spend examining their psychological,
emotional condition.

Fascinatingly 60 years ago, Alexander expressed his
belief that as human beings most of our modern diseases
and syndromes have occurred because as a race of people
we have become so goal oriented, all that ever matters is
the result, never how we get there.

Alexander referred to humans as "a race of End
Gainers",

By adopting the "End Gain" philosophy we are
unwittingly wearing out our bodies, but as has now become
even more prevalent we have actually even managed to wear
out the planet. What a legacy to pass onto our children.

Alexander actually commented before his death that unless
we stop and think about the consequences of our actions
we would not only destroy ourselves with muscular
tension, but we would actually destroy our very species
on a global level.

One has only to read the news regarding what we have done
to the climate and our natural resources to see how apt
his words have become.

Alexander's legacy was to leave us with the option to use
the reason, choice and common sense that we are given as
children.

Unfortunately, due to societal pressure to conform we
usually decline this option at the first possible
opportunity, imitating the behaviour and examples of
others instead of doing what we know and feel is right.

As children we are forced to conform, we are taught to be
afraid of being different.

We learn a fear of being unique and individual at a time
when we should be promoting such qualities.

By following the Alexander Technique we can reprogram our
consciousness and choose the manner in which we live our
lives.

 We can choose to experience stress in a different
way.

 We can choose to follow the herd in terms of how
we sit, work, eat and drive, or not.

 We can choose how much tension we will allow in
our head, neck, shoulders and back that are contributing
and exacerbating our Fibromyalgia and CFS symptoms.

 We can choose to inhibit spontaneous reactions and
learn to let go.

At the very hearts of Alexanders' techniques are the four
concepts of good use:

The end result of an Alexander lesson is an efficient
easy use of the body, but the procedure that a student
must go through is essentially a mental one and these
articles can assist in preparing you for this journey.

We have all been told at some point to stand up straight;
we instinctively pull our shoulders back and try to force
our spine into a rigid column, but we will then notice
how this leads to a very uncomfortable muscle tension
after only a few minutes.

Alexander noticed this too in his acting work and he
spent years developing four basic concepts which lie at
the heart of the Alexander Technique.

The first two are aimed at the head neck and torso and
the second two are aimed at the legs and shoulders.

By applying these concepts you will feel your neck and
shoulder muscles becoming less tense and your back
becoming longer and your hip joints becoming freer.

The four concepts go like this:

1. Allow your neck to release so that your head can
balance forward and up.

2. Allow your torso to release into length and width.

3. Allow your legs to release away from your pelvis.

4. Allow your shoulders to release out to the sides.

Note a common thread running through all the
concepts .RELEASE!!

"Release" is essential particularly to
Fibromyalgia sufferers in order to break the tension
cycle which can bring on and maintain a "trigger
point attack".

Unnecessary tension in skeletal muscles can set the stage
for pain and injury to other structures of the back such
as the ligaments and joints.

By release we mean asking your muscles only to work just
as hard as they have to in order to perform the task you
set for them.

Practice releasing muscles

Many people at first find consciously releasing muscles
rather more difficult than it sounds.

In parts 3 and 4 of this series we examine closely with
examples exactly how to "release" and also
define it more accurately.

I will outline how to practice and experience the 4
concepts in real life with examples. I will also talk
about "Inhibition" which can be considered
Alexanders 5th and most important concept, essential to
the technique.